Hotel Barcelona, The Hotel Of Serial Killers

Hotel Barcelona finds you playing as Justine, a novice federal marshal who just so happens to have a serial killer named Dr. Carnival living inside of her. On a mission to find a certain “witch”, she finds herself at the doorsteps of the titular Hotel Barcelona, a luxurious hotel right outside of Pittsburgh. But no, she is not there for a quick investigation or a relaxing vacation—evil serial killers from all over the United States have gathered there, and the hotel itself seems to be afflicted with the curse of a time loop. Will Justine be able to exterminate all the killers in her midst and escape the accursed hotel in one piece (or…erm, several pieces)?

In terms of gameplay, Hotel Barcelona is a 2.5D action roguelike side-scroller where you hack and slash your enemies down in melee combat—which is, quite befittingly, a nod to the theme of the game being a slasher film parody. As a roguelike, dying and restarting from the beginning is a given, but there’s an interesting catch. Each time Justine perishes and starts the mission all over again, she gains a past version of herself called the Slasher Phantoms, which will replicate what she did in a previous run. These Slasher Phantoms can be used as decoys and sidekicks to deal more damage to that wretched murderer that killed you. Sweet revenge.

All the way back in its initial teaser at the Tokyo Game Show in 2023, Hotel Barcelona already was making headlines for the reason that its creators are two legends in the world of game development. Hidetaka “SWERY” Suehiro and Goichi “Suda51” Suda. While it was initially just an idea voiced out during a talk event in 2019 with no prior planning, Suda eventually gave Swery his commitment to the project, mentioning that it was an opportunity he’d like to take seriously.

The game takes inspiration from 80s and 90s American horror and slasher films, mixing in the “colors and atmosphere of Japanese animation,” said Swery in an Xbox interview. It boasts beautiful hand-drawn visuals and animations which he said is something to look forward to in the game’s actual release. 

On the topic of being influenced by American horror movies, fans of the genre might be posed to find homage to popular slasher film antagonists like Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger, but Swery noted that “the bosses are not a tribute to any single character; They’re more like an embodiment of a subgenre of horror films. For example, there are many subgenres of horror, such as slasher movies, zombie horror, summer camps, babysitters, and so on. We came up with the idea of our bosses through the tropes that each subgenre has built up over their time.”

While not a newbie to the side-scroller genre, Hotel Barcelona will be studio White Owls Inc.’s first combat-focused action game. With the expertise of both Swery and Suda, it will surely result in a wonderful game for fans of the genre will be able to enjoy.

Everyone (over the age of 18—sorry kids, this game might have a Mature rating) needs a little hack-and-slash action every now and then, and Hotel Barcelona might just scratch that itch.

From the trailer, the gameplay looks fluid and intuitive, and you are also treated to the interesting visuals. The bosses themselves are fascinating, and the trailer teases a snippet of each of them. There’s a butcher who specializes in making SAWsages (pun intended, the guy wields a chainsaw), an AI monster shark, and a terrifying giant baby puppet, to name a few. The footballer boss who looks to be thrice Justine’s size is also seen in the trailer with what looks to be his special skill animation at the end, and each of the bosses will have their own.

With star-studded staff, interesting lore, and cool visuals, it definitely is a game to look out for later this year.

Hotel Barcelona will be out in 2024, coming out on PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.